In the construction industry, builders of homes and other structures typically lose significant capital in correcting the position of pipes, including electrical conduit, that were moved out of position accidentally by workmen or poured concrete during an early stage of construction.
Conventionally, pipes and conduit are laid so their ends project upwardly above what will be the surface of a concrete floor, whether the concrete will be formed on a prepared ground or on a structural floor at an elevated level in a multi-level building. The pipe ends have an upward orientation so that after the concrete has been poured and set, the projecting ends can be connected to piping and conduit that will convey utilities to particular areas of the building. Typically, before the concrete is poured, the exposed ends of the pipes are tied together in succession and to an external support for securement. However, in spite of such efforts, the pipe ends frequently become bent or twisted in a variety of directions by, e.g., workmen backing into a pipe or the unyielding force of the poured concrete.
Before construction can continue, the orientation of the pipes needs to be corrected so that utility connections can be made and the pipes would not otherwise project through a finished wall, making an undesired entrance into an adjacent room. However, the misalignment of the pipes often makes it difficult, if not impossible, for tradesmen to complete the connection of utilities. Moreover, efforts to correct the misalignment are not always successful, as they may result in a pinched diameter of the bent pipe. Further, correction of the problem costs time and money: the solution generally entails removing—by jack hammering—concrete from around the pipes, manually repositioning the pipes, and then repouring concrete around the correctly positioned pipes.
Additionally, the construction industry incurs significant costs in repairing pipes and conduit that are damaged during later stages of construction, such as the accidental puncturing of plumbing pipes by nail guns during installation of drywall or trim.
Yet another problem facing the construction industry concerns the potential hazard the upwardly projecting pipe ends pose to workmen at the work site. The pipe ends project upwardly to varying heights—ranging from ankle high to waist high. The exposed pipe ends put workmen at risk of injury should they fall, trip or become impaled on a projecting pipe.
Recent developments have provided means of separating, organizing, and stabilizing water pipes prior to the forming a floor slab. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,130 to Unruh et al. describes a water line guide that is placed level with the top of the finished slab. The device has an elongated narrow plate with longitudinally spaced-apart holes, a cylindrical portion that is integral with the plate, and a separate cylindrical sleeve that fits inside the cylindrical portion for placing around a vent pipe. Such device, however, leaves pipe ends exposed above the concrete surface.
Therefore, a need exists for a system and method of protecting pipes, which provides a solution to the foregoing problems.